1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the manufacture of coke in slot-type coke oven batteries and more specifically to the clean-up of coke spilled during the pushing operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the modern manufacture of coke it is conventional to use a battery, or series, or horizontal slot-type coke ovens to carbonize the coal in the production of either metallurgical or foundry grades of coke. The coal is loaded into these ovens from either an overhead larry car system or a pipeline charging system. Each of the ovens is generally in the form of a slot, for example, dimensions of 12 feet in height, 18 inches in width and 40 feet in length might be found. The coal is generally introduced through holes or ports in the top. The ends of the slots are covered with doors, including seals, to prevent the introduction of air and the leakage of gas during the coking cycle. After the coal is loaded in, it is leveled by conventional equipment, which will not be described, and heated at substantially elevated temperature for a sustained period to time, for example 1,200.degree. F. for 18 hours. Once this coking cycle has been completed, the doors on both ends of the slot are removed. A conventional pusher machine is positioned at the pusher side of the oven and a coke guide is positioned at the opposite, or coke side, of the oven slot. A pusher ram is mounted on the pusher machine and is operable to horizontally extend through the length of the oven, functioning to push substantially all of the coke in the oven through the coke guide on the opposite side, or coke side, of the oven, into an awaiting quench car.
As mentioned above, at the end of the coke cycle, the doors are removed from both the coke side and pusher side of the oven. This is accomplished by mechanisms referred to as door machines. On the pusher side of the machine, a door extractor is usually incorporated into the pusher machine. During the door removal, some hot coke spills from the ends of the ovens onto the benches, which are horizontal shelf-like projections, extending outwardly from both the pusher side and the coke side of the battery.
The pusher ram includes an extension arm which is usually operated on a rack and pinion principle, the extension being the rack and the pinion being power driven by an electric motor mounted on the pusher machine. At the lead end of the extension arm is a ram head which is generally shaped to conform to the cross-section of the oven, although the ram head is smaller in dimension to allow for clearances as well as thermal expansion of the metal composition of the ram head. The ram head presents a flat face which pushes the red-hot incandescent coke in the coke oven through the coke side door, as mentioned above.
Because of the required clearances and the non-uniform thermal movement of the ram head, as well as the extension arm, some of the hot coke falls behind the ram head and ram shoe, on the opposite side from the flat face. Thus, when the pusher ram is retracted from the coke oven, the hot coke behind the ram head and ram shoe is dragged out of the pusher side door to fall onto the pusher side bench. As soon as this hot coke, as well as that which fell out of the oven when the door was removed, comes into contact with the air, it begins to burn, expelling noxious gases which have been determined to be pollutants. This coke continues to burn until the pusher machine is moved to another oven, following the door cleaning and replacement, and a man climbs up onto the bench and puts it out. However, recent governmental regulations have now curtailed the utilization of manpower on or near coke oven batteries. The result is that the coke burns on the bench until it is consumed. On the other hand, governmental regulations now substantially restrict the emination of pollutants from coke oven batteris, including those expelled from the burning coke on the bench. Thus, non-human means are needed to handle this bench coke expeditiously in order to curtail the pollution problem.